Time Left for 2017 Support -

I supported because…
"Because this is, without doubt, the best place and the best community on the world-wide web!"
- Dave Daffin (Dave in Ledbury)
Our End-of-Year Geek support drive ends in 19 days! It has been your support,
financial and otherwise, that has allowed this site to become what it is today.
Learn More

it’s been a while since we worked together on the development of Space Race: The Card Game here on BGG. The game has gone a long way since then and, also thanks to the contribution of the BGG community, we finished the development, ran a successful campaign on Kickstarter, passed through the manufacturing process, and the game has been delivered to all the backers’ hands few months ago. It’s been a long way, but certainly it was a wonderful one!

I’m opening this thread because I’d love to share with you a work-in-progress prototype of an upcoming expansion called Interkosmos. We have already went through plenty of inhouse playtesting and even several public testing sessions which resulted in a work-in-progress prototype I think you could be interested in. I’d be glad for all your thoughts and remarks you’d like to share with us here on the design of the new expansion.

What’s in Interkosmos expansion? New Space Race Cards including plenty of brand new mechanics (explained in detail in the post below) New Achievement Cards New set of Control Cards (a complete set for Chinese Space Program, the 5th player)

Project Status

Game DesignAll the feedback we received from the community and the Space Race backers provided us with a solid foundations for what to look for when thinking of the expansion. We tried a bunch of mechanics and approaches and -- obviously -- discarded plenty of them after a few playtesting sessions. We have completed the initial public prototype based on our own testing and decided to move further.

PlaytestingWith the new prototype of Interkosmos, we subsequently met with 4 gaming groups in the Czech Republic to see how it would be perceived by testers who come from outside our closed team. It actually turned out to worked quite well! After that, we tweaked wording, discarded more cards, and edit the bugs we found. The result is the work-in-progress print and play kit of Interkosmos I’d like to share with you in this thread (detailed designer description of all new mechanics follows in the next post).

ArtworksPlenty of you were really fond on Dalibor’s artworks. Good news is he’s still with the team and already began creating new illustrations for Interkosmos.

Next Steps

(This is where the project is now) Besides our own ongoing playtesting sessions, we would love to hear your thoughts on the Interkosmos game design. Please note that all other parts, such as illustrations, graphic layouts, and new iconography is not by any means final in the kit). We’re going to do our best to tweak, fix, and update all issues that we together identify. Also based (not only) on further playtesting results, we will create updated graphic design as well as put down the complete text for the rulebook and its graphics. All the steps above will, hopefully, help us to produce a design-ready prototype we’d like to show you in Essen, if you stop by. After that we would like to, similarly to the base Space Race game, run a Kickstarter campaign in November.

Would you like to join of the development?

If you’re a fan of game design (or boardgaming in general), we would love if you join the party and share with us what you think about Interkosmos. Your contribution will help the project significantly -- if you just browse through the kit and this thread and either leave us a comment, discuss the new mechanics (which are described in detail below), or if you even manage several testing session (you’re a king in that case)! All of it is crucial when it comes to the quality of the final game design.

How to join the development:

Download the work-in-progress print and play kit of Interkosmos. You can submit your feedback in the brief poll below. You’re more than welcome to share and discuss your thought and ideas in this thread as well as to invite your friends who are interested in game design and development to take part too. If you do previews we would be glad if you could do a preview of the final prototype .

Being a playtester or a contributor is not an easy task and most people do that just because they love board games and want to support the hobby. I do appreciate that a lot! Therefore -- all playtesters and contributors who will report their feedback (in the poll or by email) will receive a playtester-limited print resolution illustration from the Interkosmos expansion once the playtesting is finished.

Of course, all of the playtesters will also be included in a special Thank You section in the rulebook, in the same way as it was with the base Space Race game.

Not only to accommodate for the increased demand for cards when playing in 5, but also to extend the strategic depth of the base Space Race, we have created a set of brand new cards that add new mechanics into the game. We did our best to design them to be equally strong as the cards from the base set but, at the same time, to make sure they would provide interesting and enjoyable twists to the gameplay.

The ratio between the type of cards remains the same (i.e. there is the same % of Space Programs as in the base game), but because the overall deck of cards used in the game grew significantly bigger, there is an increased possibility for some interesting combinations of what comes into the Universe (such as Breakthrough-heavy games etc.), which “pressures” players to develop more versatile Agencies in order to able to cope with any possible challenges.

The set of cards from the expansion can be freely added or removed from the base game, but our intent was to design them to work seamlessly in 2-player to 5-player games. (We have not tested it for the solo variant yet.)

So, what mechanics in particular will you meet while exploring Interkosmos? Here they are!

1. Building Costs

MotivationThe first thought that made us think about any form of mandatory abilities was to introduce a bit larger pressure on cards management in Hand (which naturally represent the player’s budget/resources) and, as a result of the same approach, to make the abilities that let you draw cards from the Deck a bit more interesting than they were in the base game.

Secondly -- In the base Space Race, there are no real costs associated with acquiring any of the cards. However, from the thematic point of view, developing powerful cutting-edge Technologies or even keeping them up and running could be really expensive and not all Agencies might be able to handle such a task. This approach is now reflected by mandatory Building Cost abilities that have to be paid either in advance or as a regular maintenance.

Mechanics designBeing able to place a slight drawback on the cards allowed us to design stronger combination of Abilities and Levels on those cards (Technologies) and also add more abilities that players can activate. At this point, the Building Cost always says Put 1 card from Hand at the bottom of the Deck. If a player fails to pay the cost, something unpleasant will usually happen (It’s not smart to save on space rocket development, is it?).

Originally, we tried to put the “paid” cards on the top of the Deck (instead of at the bottom) to allow players to influence the cards coming on the board or into their Hands, but after several testing sessions we have decided to discard this approach as it brought some considerable consistency issues: There are cards in the base game that allows players to profit from being able to set up the top card of the Deck (Apollo Program, Saturn V). After combining these cards with the Costs mechanics, it turned them into game killers! But even the fact that you’re actually able to “draw” your investments right back using the draw abilities on Technology cards spoiled the thematic nature of the Cost mechanics, so we have decided it works better place the cards at the bottom of the Deck instead of on the top of it.

Feedback from playtestingThe cards with Building Costs were usually taken from the Universe very fast because they, apart from being Technology cards with high Levels on them, provide players with abilities that are generally fun/reasonable (depending on what’s your perspective) to activate. Placing pressure on players’ Hands turned out to be quite realistic and the amount of 1 card as a payment seems just fine, as it’s not always easy to have a spare card you’re not going to play ever but most of the time the player is able to choose and discard one of his cards in exchange for a pretty cool multi-functional Technology card.

2. Boostered Contest for the Breakthroughs

MotivationIn the base game, the Breakthrough cards all have a single Breakthrough symbol on them. Players who don’t get in the Breakthroughs early often tend to stay out of the race just because they didn’t believe they had a chance to score points. The expansion will bring two new Breakthrough types into play that both, we believe, help to make the Breakthrough contest a more long-term and strategic endeavour.

Mechanics design

Double-symbol Breakthroughs -- The first new type carries two different Breakthrough symbols, bringing more variability into which categories you could aim for. Yes, the card is in ideal case worth 12 points, but there’s always a catch! The one here is hidden in the fact this Breakthrough card doesn’t permit you to score points for ties in the corresponding Breakthrough categories.

Growing Breakthroughs -- The second type is here to allow players to jump in the contest even in the later game when considerable amount of Breakthrough cards is already on board and in the players’ Agencies. These cards may have any amount of the same Breakthrough symbols from zero to to two. Sounds like a joker? Not totally -- The number of symbols on the cards only grows if you have used your Control Cards of a corresponding type during the game. If you fail to do so they have no symbols on them at all.

Feedback from playtestingBoth new Breakthrough card types seems to work towards a more engaging Breakthrough contest.The double-symbol cards effectively attract other players in the contest (by giving them an opportunity to null the double symboled card of their opponents rather than to let the opponents score full 12 points. We’re even considering whether this attraction isn’t too imminent, effectively making the double-symboled Breakthroughs somewhat weaker than the rest in both base and expansion sets.

When comes to the pumping Breakthroughs, we have been quite satisfied with how they work and most importantly with the fact that it’s not very effective in locking down the Breakthrough category by an early pick of such a card. We saw that many times in the playtests, but the constraint of such a card put quite a burden on the player’s future Control Cards selection that it often result in one of the following situations: 1) not having played the necessary Control Cards during the game, therefore, not growing up the breakthrough, or 2) having the Breakthrough grow up but at the cost of sacrificing more promising moves because of it. This card works much better as later game pick with the ability to twist the ongoing Breakthrough contest. Overall, there definitely was a larger drive to compete for different Breakthrough symbols during the playtests. On the other hand, it seems to be a bit harder to keep track of who has how many symbols and what players do not score for ties in what Breakthrough categories in 5-player games.

Further tasks Do you like the new Breakthrough mechanics and the twist it brings to the Breakthrough contest? Do you think the new Breakthroughs make the individual Breakthrough categories too difficult to track?

3. Deeper Interweaving of Control Cards into the Gameplay

This is whole set of new mechanics fueled by a single motivation behind them -- to have Control Cards more incorporated in the game and to add additional depth into the management of Control Cards that players use.

3.1 Incremental Effects

MotivationWe aimed to come up with mechanics that could provide additional ways to activate and profit from the currently existing pool of abilities in the game. These new effects have variable outcomes depending on specific conditions. When fully prepared, a player may activate them for the largest possible outcome (as in the real space exploration, right?), or, on the other hand, players can also focus just on activating the effects that benefit their strategies and goals.

Mechanics designThese cards show multiple abilities divided by a vertical line as well as the requirements that “unlock” each of the abilities. Which of these abilities are activated depends on which of the corresponding requirements (also divided by a vertical line) you have fulfilled.

Feedback from playtestingPlaytests have shown that these mechanics accentuate planning what to do in advance if players want to benefit from cards with multiple effect abilities as much as they possibly can. It was also mentioned that these cards can be slightly less useful during the early game and that they grow stronger towards the end.

Further tasks How do you feel about the fact that the strength of these abilities grow as more different Control Cards are played? Does it add to the theme of well thought propaganda actions?

3.2 “X” Abilities

Another way to enhance the difference the Control Cards can make is the introduction of abilities reflecting the Control Card used for the current round.

MotivationAbilities with X, besides for their being linked to the Control Cards use, allow players using the ability with the strength they, at the moment, can utilize. From another point of view, it is also engaging to not only be able to choose which abilities to activate, but also at what strength. Thanks to this, there is a strong reflection of the actions the player does into what is going on in the game.

Mechanics designUsually, the X ability is either as strong as the Level of the Control Card used in the current round (so 1, 3, or 6) or as the half of that Level rounded up (so 1, 2, or 3).

Feedback from playtestingDuring the playtests, cards with these abilities received a lot of love. It even enhanced the use of Propaganda level 1 Control Card for it’s Bureaucracy ability that allows you to exchange a previously played Control Card for an unplayed one, so the players could use an X ability one more time with a 6 Level Control Card. Moreover, it adds a reasonable attractivity to “Level 3” Control Cards which, in the base game, are usually the third (last) pick for most players.

4. Claiming Space Race Achievements

Achievements introduce a brand new card type in Space Race and are another way to make more use of the Control Cards while also bringing a new way to reach Development Points. Apart from that, they provide the feeling of reaching certain goals and possibly even beating other players to these goals. They create additional opportunity to score points by adding extra area to compete in while also making the players think a bit harder if they are to claim them.

MotivationThe motivation behind adding Achievements into the game is to provide new, streamlined, and easily accessible strategy and goals to pursue, using Control Cars in completely novel way.

Mechanics designDuring the setup, 5 random Achievements are placed next to the Universe ready to be claimed. The requirements to claim them are quite simple and range from having certain types of cards in Agency to having a minimum Level in a certain Stage from the cards in Agency. When you meet the requirements shown on an Achievement card, you can claim it by placing one of your unused Control Cards on them (face down). The players receive Development Points for claimed Achievements -- the number of points depends on whether you were the first, second or third who claimed the individual Achievements.

Feedback from playtestingThe playtesters were really positive on the possibility of adding Achievements into the game. In all the playtests that we have done, Achievements have proven to be one of the ways to get points and, more importantly, a really enjoyable way. It is possible to focus primarily on them in order to get the largest possible point bonus or, on the other hand, to try maximizing your profit on a field left open by those only going for the Achievements.

Further tasks It is important to balance the points/scoring system of Achievements so that they maintain their presence in the game without actually steering the whole gameplay into a hunt for them. Similarly to Breakthroughs, they should be a valid strategy to earn points, but not the only or even vital one.

5. Introducing New Player in the Space Race Universe

Chinese Space Program enters the game -- there is a new set of Control Cards that allows you to play 5-player games.

Feedback from playtestingA 5-player game is playable in under 90 minutes (not including rules explanation and possible questions of first-time players who are not familiar with the game mechanics).

Feedback

So this is it. What do you think about it? We'll be extremely happy if you could put down a few notes or remarks on the concepts presented here. If you even manage to assemble the kit and give it a try, definitely post a picture here

I've read about the various new features of the expansions, and while most of them sound interesting on paper, I honestly find it difficult to gauge how they will integrate with the current mechanics.

I'm largely very happy with the base game! My primary concerns are the following - maybe you can find a way to make my somewhat hazy statements match some of your expansion plans

1. No. of players - at two players, there's a define risk that not enough interesting cards show up in the universe (mainly because the ones you draw aren't relevant to the combos you're trying to create). That's the luck of the draw. At four players, this problem is much less, but then you have the challenge of identifying a lot of small icons from across the table. In that way, I'm not sure I'd want to play it with five players because there'd just be too much small information to take in from around the table - but that's just me.

2. Breakthroughs - often not a lot of these will turn up, so I think it looks good to beef up this aspect of the game.

3. Thematically and mechinally I think the building cost sounds really interesting. The thing is that I'm fairly happy with the current length and complexity of the game, so I'd rather not have any changes that would extend or complicate the game experience a whole lot.

4. The achiements make perfect thematic sense, and as long as they don't turn the game into one long hunt for achievements (which you're already aware of), I think it sounds interesting too. I can't figure out if the luck of the draw concerns mentioned earlier would also be a factor here. Ie. that the achievements come about because of more or less pure luck.

I agree that achievements and buildings costs sound the most interesting of the new mechanics (and maybe just those two would be enough?).I did not try the expansion pnp so I don't have an informed opinion yet but just by reading the rulebook I got the feeling that maybe too many new mechanics would over complicate a game that is already very enjoyable as is.But we`ll see...and I look forward for the expansion and the reprint of the base game.

Thank you for the feedback! 🙂 I'm glad to hear you're happy with the base game. Let's take a look at the things you have mentioned.

Gunness wrote:

1. No. of players - at two players, there's a define risk that not enough interesting cards show up in the universe (mainly because the ones you draw aren't relevant to the combos you're trying to create). That's the luck of the draw. At four players, this problem is much less, but then you have the challenge of identifying a lot of small icons from across the table. In that way, I'm not sure I'd want to play it with five players because there'd just be too much small information to take in from around the table - but that's just me.

You are right, in two, the choices are more limited, but this is very often countered by either Lvl 1 Breakthrough or Lvl 1 Technology Control Card played early. On the other hand, Michal, the other designer, personally likes the 2-player games the most because of the direct confrontation factor that is present.

I agree that in 5, there are lots of things happening around the board and a lot of information to process. However, there is also much more going on, a lot of cards in the universe, a lot of ability uses and, generally, a plenty of twists to the game. You have to think quickly to react properly on the changing situation on the board.

We didn't really have any problems reading the iconography or the text on the cards with 5 players in comparison to playing Space Race with less people (including those who have played Space Race for the first time during the playtests).

Gunness wrote:

2. Breakthroughs - often not a lot of these will turn up, so I think it looks good to beef up this aspect of the game.

If you can (and have the time), definitely try it out using the development PnP kit. 🙂 It does makes the Breaktrough race more competitive.

Gunness wrote:

3. Thematically and mechinally I think the building cost sounds really interesting. The thing is that I'm fairly happy with the current length and complexity of the game, so I'd rather not have any changes that would extend or complicate the game experience a whole lot.

I know what you mean. Fortunately, the building cost mechanics do not complicate or extend the game. Most of the time when you place Technology cards with cost mechanics into your Agency, you simply take one card from your Hand and put it at the bottom of the Deck. Of course, this requires further planing, and you have take it into account when planing to make use of a card that has this cost, but, overall, the cost mechanics itself is very simple and easily executed.

Gunness wrote:

4. The achiements make perfect thematic sense, and as long as they don't turn the game into one long hunt for achievements (which you're already aware of), I think it sounds interesting too. I can't figure out if the luck of the draw concerns mentioned earlier would also be a factor here. Ie. that the achievements come about because of more or less pure luck.

That's exactly what we are striving for - to not turn the game into a hunt for Achievements. At the moment, we are happy with how it works - it is a way to earn points, but not a crucial one. During the playtesting it was not necessary to claim Achievements to win the game.

We’ve been working on a completely new and exciting addition to the expansion, Scenarios, which bring thematically-based variations on the gameplay by changing some of the core rules of the game, each of them producing a very distinct, specific vibe.

Playing the scenarios allows you to explore the game within a historical context. Each of them requires you to deal with a situation that is based on real events. Thanks to this, you can experience exciting twists in the base game style of play while reshaping the most important eras of the space conquest.

Just as Space Race: The Card Game invites you to write an alternative history of scientific achievement, playing with the scenarios gives you the opportunity to explore different paths to than those trodden in the past.

Let’s take a look at one of them in detail:

The Dawn of an Era

“On behalf of the President, I am now announcing that the President has approved plans by this country for going ahead with the launching of small earth-circling satellites.”

... and so it begins - the radio report on July 29, 1955 spreads the plans of the Eisenhower administrative into the ether, igniting the space race between the USA and USSR. Victory is not only the mark of technological advancement, but also a proof of ideological supremacy. Times of great discoveries and achievements lie ahead as the superpowers alternate on the throne as the result of breakthroughs ranging from the launch of Sputnik 1 to Apollo 11 mission that leaves the American flag piercing the surface of the Moon.

However, the real race has started years before the broadcast. Released from a gulag prison camp, the secreted prodigy known to public only as “the Chief Designer” already leads the USSR scientists in a battle of wits against the German mastermind Wernher von Braun. Classified research projects are in full steam as the improvements on the Aggregat-4 rocket are essential to the victory.

The gameplay of this scenario replicates the early cold war focus on essential technological advancements as foundations to successful extraterrestrial breakthroughs that will establish the leading agency and country as superior.

The Dawn of an Era promotes direct competition during first three rounds as players do not have access to Breakthrough Control Cards until the fourth round. After that, Breakthrough possibilities start accumulating and it will be the task for the best prepared agency to reach for them.

1. Place Sergei Korolev, Wernher von Braun, Cold War Spirit and Cape Canaveral into the Universe (from the cards set aside).2. (In a 3-, 4-, or 5-player game) Add 1, 2, or 3 additional cards to the Universe from the top of the Deck face up, respectively.3. Add 2 cards from the top of the Deck face down into the Universe.

Give each player 1 set of 12 Control Cards

1. Choose a player who will play for NASA and give them NASA Control Cards. NASA also receives the Initiative Marker.2. Player on the left of NASA receives Soviet (Russian) Control Cards.3. Other players (if available) receive European, Chinese, and Private Sector Control Cards.

Deal Space Race cards to players’ Hands1. NASA:a. Moon Speech (PrA) and Small Step for Man (Br) from the cards set aside.b. 1 card from the Deck2. Soviets:a. Sputnik 1 (SpP) and Leaving Earth (Br) from the cards set aside.b. 2 cards from the Deck3. Europe, Chinese, and Private sector:a. 5 cards from the Deck

Form the Breakthrough Pile by shuffling all the remaining Breakthrough Cards and placing them face down next to the Deck.

Special Rules:

• Phase 1: Manage the Agency -- During the first three rounds, players may only use Propaganda, Technology, and Space Program Control Cards. --Development first• Phase 2: Develop the Agency -- Whenever players use an ability that allows them to take cards from the Deck into their Hand, they may take the first card from the Breakthrough Pile instead.• Phase 3: Prepare for the Next Decade -- from the 3rd round on, put one card from the Breakthrough Pile face-down into the Universe (2 cards in 4- or 5-player game) at the beginning of the phase. --New Discovery on the Horizon

End Scoring:

• Breakthrough categories are scored as usual. However, every Breakthrough card present in a player’s agency is worth 3 additional Development Points.

The playtests so far has shown that there is indeed a very competitive beginning as, during the first three rounds, there are only three types of Control Cards to choose from and also only three type of cards appearing in the Universe at first - Propaganda, Technology, and Space Programs.

After the first three rounds, players have usually accumulated Breakthroughs in Hand and strive to strategically choose the most profitable of them to place face-down in the Universe to acquire into the Agency.

There is also an interesting touch of trying to beat other players to Breakthroughs even before the fourth round when the Breakthrough Control Cards become available. Cards that allow acquiring Breakthrough cards without playing a Breakthrough Control Card, such as Secret Project or International Project (new in Interkosmos) seem to acquire a strong thematic as well as strategic significance.

This is something we have been thinking of developing for quite some time now, and we are happy that we can share it with you. The Dawn of an Era scenario is compatible with the base game even without the Interkosmos expansion, so feel free to try it out. :)

Dalibor, who is responsible for all the amazing illustrations in the game, has been active during the past days, and there are few images that we would like to share with you along with some extra information about each of them.

What better way to spark international cooperation in the name of science than to have a rendezvous in space. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project did just that. In July 1975, two Russian and three American astronauts set out on a common mission that paved the way for future international partnerships and incidentally marked the end of the Space Race. If only all international conflicts could be solved by sending some people to space.

The International Project card is one of the two new variations on the Secret Project card from the Space Race: The Card Game. The international cooperation allows you to use your resources in the Propaganda stage to acquire cards from different stages in the Universe. But there is a catch (as always with this kind of cooperations): You have to wait for the rest of the Agencies to execute their plans and only take what is left after that. … of course, everyone is willing to cooperate, but only on the projects not essential for their own growth.

Heavenly Palace

Tiangong-1 is China’s first space station, also known as Heavenly Palace 1, that launched 29 September 2011 and since then became notable for another of China’s “firsts” - it had their first female astronauts over. Its successor, Tiangong-2, has been on space duty for a little over a year, having orbital rendezvous with spacecrafts. They say the Universe is infinite, but why risk cluttering it - both Heavenly Palaces are only 10 meters long with diameters of 3 meters.

The Heavenly Palace floats in the space to gather crucial data for your agency. It needs careful directions from the command center, which is represented as the new mechanics aimed at providing alternate strategies and extra depth in Control cards management.

The Eye of Heaven

China is bringing out the big guns in the Space Race, and quite literally. Meet FAST.

FAST, or Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, is exactly what is says. With its 500 meters across, it’s the largest of its kind and might very well be the one to find out if E.T. ever got home okay. FAST is meant to look for extraterrestrial civilizations in the vast universe, but don’t expect any decent internet connection around this thing - it needs radio silence to do its job.

FAST. And HUGE. The largest spherical telescope nicknamed The Eye of Heaven makes an appearance in the Interkosmos expansion as one of the new Technology projects you can build. While significantly boosting your development Level in the areas of technology and breakthrough, FAST can either help you get new data into your Hand or benefit from extensive exploration of the Universe. However, you must be prepared to pay for such an expensive project in order to make use of FAST’s abilities.

The Eye of Heaven is an example of how many of the new Technology cards work - they usually offer strong Levels and two different one-time abilities that become available if you pay the building cost.

I picked the base game up at Essen and I must say that I really like the ideas/look of the expansion. Curious to see which additional scenarios will be included (race to develop re-usable rockets? ).

I haven't been able to PNP the expansion yet, but from reading the post I have two remarks:1. Do you intend to change the 'E1' text to a small logo to denote which cards are from the expansion? 2. Wrt the 'X' abilities; do you intend to make a separate icon for the 'equal to level' and the 'half of level' cards? This would make it easier from across the table to immediately see whether an X card is of full/half-type.

1. The "E1" icon is just a temporary placeholder (the fastest option) so it is easy to separate the cards from the expansion.

2. When you get used to them, it is actually not necessary. That's because whether an X ability is full/half type depends on the ability itself. Basically, all the X abilities in Propaganda (from hand to lab), Space Programs (draw/from hand to lab), and Breakthroughs (from universe to lab) are "half X". Only the abilities in Technology (draw) are "full X".